R6- How to conduct a vox pop

A questionnaire is like a script – you can make a bad film out of a good one but you certainly can’t make a good film out of a bad one.

• Make sure you stick to up to 5 questions, no one wants to miss too much fun so you must be brief.
• The questions must be open-ended – that is to say – no yes-or-no answers. It’ll get you far better sound bites.
• It’s important to know what the objective of the video is, are you encouraging people to come next time? Then ask them about the value of the event to them. If it’s just a reference video, ask them to describe their experience so far etc.
• Ensure that the client knows what you’re asking. It’s important that your client has input in this process but don’t let them add too many questions

Next is Recruitment:

• Choose your targets. People who are on their own are easier to recruit so single out friendly looking loners – sounds like an unlikely combo but you’ll be surprised.
• Make sure you’ve had a good chat with your client to find out who they want to interview – they may not have a wish list but when you ask the question you’ll find that they can usually point out some people – it helps to narrow down the throng for you.
• Approach with confidence. Inevitably you’ll need to interrupt some people but just be polite and open with a line like ‘excuse me, sorry to interrupt, can I ask you to give us a short interview for the event video?’ don’t over talk – if they don’t want to do it, don’t insist or get whiny.
• What is critical is your tone, you must remain friendly and non-confrontational but assertive and confident. A perfect mixture of those qualities will recruit most people.


Finally is Interview Technique

If your respondent knows what to expect, they won’t be surprised when it happens, so tell them what you’re after and if they agree to take part, no one has any nasty surprises or any reason to get narky.

• Tell them that you may want to repeat sections and may ask for shorter and longer responses
• Tell them that you’re after full-sentence answers for fuller sound bites.
• Once you get rolling, don’t talk! If you feel you haven’t got much from an answer say: ‘tell me more about that,’ it puts people at ease and gets you much meatier content.
• Don’t over speak or murmur your agreement; you’ll ruin perfectly good quotes.


http://www.deadready.co.uk/blog/how-to-conduct-vox-pop-interviews-at-events/